TWO ALABAMA MEN SENTENCED FOR STOLEN IDENTITY REFUND FRAUD CRIMES IN SEPARATE CASES

WASHINGTON – Deundra Milhouse and Fredrick Hill, both residents of Alabama, were sentenced today in separate stolen identity refund fraud (SIRF) cases, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Tamara Ashford of the Justice Department's Tax Division and U.S. Attorney George L. Beck Jr. for the Middle District of Alabama. Milhouse was sentenced to serve 81 months in prison and Hill was sentenced to serve 74 months in prison.

Deundra Milhouse Case

Milhouse previously pleaded guilty to one count of access device fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was indicted in December 2013 and has been detained since his arrest in late January. According to his plea agreement, Milhouse was involved in SIRF crimes-using stolen identities to steal money from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) by filing fraudulent tax returns claiming refunds in the victims' names-from spring 2011 through late 2013. In 2011 and 2012, Milhouse received more than $80,000 in fraudulently obtained tax refunds into a bank account he controlled. By 2013, he switched to using prepaid debit cards to receive the refunds.

Milhouse admitted in his plea agreement that he was driving a car that was stopped on Oct. 8, 2013, in Elmore County, Alabama. He managed to flee on foot and threw away a handgun that he had been carrying. At that time, Milhouse was a convicted felon prohibited from having a firearm. Numerous prepaid debit cards and documents with personal identifying information were found in the car he was driving. Milhouse also admitted that a later search of his house uncovered many more documents with the personal identifying information of victims, as well as more than 200 prepaid debit cards, a computer used to file tax returns and a magazine and ammunition for the discarded handgun. As part of his plea, Milhouse stipulated that his conduct involved an attempted fraud loss of more than $400,000 to more than 250 victims and that he had a least one felony conviction for a crime of violence prior to his possession of the handgun.

Fredrick Hill Case

Hill previously pleaded guilty to access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. According to his plea agreement, Hill sold stolen identities to others to be used in SIRF crimes. Hill admitted that at one point he possessed dozens of prepaid debit cards and more than 300 stolen identities in connection with his involvement in SIRF crime.

Both cases were investigated by special agents of IRS - Criminal Investigation. The Elmore County Sheriff's Office also provided assistance in the Milhouse case. Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Michael Boteler of the department's Tax Division prosecuted the Milhouse case and Trial Attorneys Jason Poole and Gregory Bailey prosecuted the Hill case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd Brown and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Alabama assisted with both cases.

Additional information about the Tax Division and its enforcement efforts may be found at the division website.